CIPA Announces ebook Partnership with Douglas County Libraries and Red Rocks Community Library

We are pleased to announce a partnership between the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) and two Colorado libraries: the Red Rocks Community College Library and the Douglas County Libraries.

Many members of CIPA have entered the world of digital publishing. By June of 2011, the Red Rocks Community College and the Douglas County Libraries will not only offer eBooks from CIPA’s authors for checkout through their library catalogs, but will also allow click-through purchases of these titles.

Karen Reddick, Executive Director of CIPA, said “For twenty years, CIPA has been one of the largest and most active independent publishing groups in the nation. This pilot program will help us introduce a new generation of writers to a new generation of readers. Some of those readers will become writers themselves; some will become the next generation of independent publishers.”

This partnership underscores the changing nature of publishing and distribution. Recently, larger commercial publishers have cut libraries out of the eBook market altogether or have imposed onerous new restrictions on use.

“Libraries are natural partners with independent publishers,” said Joseph Sanchez, Director of Library and learning Services for the Red Rocks Community College. “We understand and value both copyrights and the great value of alternative viewpoints. We can easily integrate eBooks into our collections, ensuring one use at a time, but also exposing authors to precisely the people who are looking for them.”

“Connecting writers and readers is what we do best, through our two million visitors a year to our facilities and another two million through our catalog,” said Jamie LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries. “This project will demonstrate not only that libraries are firm supporters of the independent publishers through our willingness to buy and promote their works, but also that libraries and publishers can help each other grow the still-developing eBook market.”